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Carcharodontosaurs
|Deaths caused = A female Saltasaurus }} A pair of unidentified carcharodontosaurs appear in as antagonists. Their exact genus is unknown; viewers have pointed out that they could be Carcharodontosaurus itself, Giganotosaurus, Tyrannotitan, or even based on the remains of the megaraptoran Megaraptor. In Dinosaur Planet Two individuals serve as the secondary antagonists of the final episode, . One is brown-colored, and the other white. It is likely that they are a mated pair, with the brown one being male and the white one female. Near the beginning of the episode, Dragonfly and his mate stumble across a dead Saltasaurus, and they decide to scavenge from it. Little do they know, a pair of carcharodontosaurs are returning to the kill. The massive brown male approaches the two Aucasaurus and lets out a loud bellow, causing them to back off. The brown carcharodontosaur eventually forces the Aucasaurs to leave, and turns back to its mate so they can feast. Later in the episode, the carcharodontosaurs emerge from the trees and onto a field, where the Saltasaurus herd are making their way to the nesting grounds. Alpha is lagging dangerously behind because of her injured leg, so she has to pick up the pace. The carcharodontosaurs make a u-turn to the back of the herd, and stroll towards whoever is in the back in order to kill them without much effort, as the predators are larger than their prey. Alpha manages to outpace an older female, and is safe. However, the old Saltasaurus is not so lucky, and is killed with a crushing bite from the male carcharodontosaur. The two apex predators drag the saltasaur back towards the trees, and feast. Possible genera Because it is not possible to tell whether the narrator meant "carcharodontosaurs" as plural or to refer to the family Carcharodontosauridae, the exact genus of the carcharodontosaurs that appear in the episode is unknown. There are some genera that may be possible candidates. * The Dinosaur Viewer "brain game" on Cosmeo.com for Dinosaur Planet identified the carcharodontosaurs as Carcharodontosaurus. However, all the information was related to the genus in Africa, making the source unreliable. ** However, Greg Paul, author and palaeontological advisor for the show, identified Carcharodontosaurus as a species of Giganotosaurus in his book, "Greg Paul's Dinosaurs: A Field Guide". Because of this identification in the book, it is possible that the intention from Paul was to have the carcharodontosaurs be considered Carcharodontosaurus carolinii for the episode. However, it is unconfirmed if he made this decision during Dinosaur Planet's production. * Another likely candidate is the megaraptoran theropod Aerosteon, which lived in the exact time and place as both Saltasaurus and Aucasaurus. The reason for this is that in the early 2000s, when Dinosaur Planet was in production, palaeontologists believed the remains of Aerosteon (which had not been named at the time) belonged to a large carcharodontosaurid genus. It is very likely that the producers of the show decided to add in an as of yet unnamed carcharodontosaur into Alpha's Egg based on the remains that had been found. * They could also be Megaraptor, which also lived at the time, though this one was believed to be a dromaeosaur at first. Errors * The Carcharodontosaurs are depicted as very slow-moving, when it was more likely that they would have been able to chase prey. * The brown Carcharodontosaur crushes the neck of the old female Saltasaurus, something that was likely impossible for it to do. In reality, Carcharodontosaurs would have delivered very weak bites that instead would've caused significant blood-loss, causing the prey to bleed to death. * The position of the Carcharodontosaurs' hands is incorrect. They should be facing each other, not downwards. * The skull of the dinosaurs appears to be skin wrapped, it would only look like this if the creature was starving to death. * In reality the Carachrodontosaurs couldn't have roared, instead it would use infrasound to communicate, the most they could've done is "growl" or "hiss" like a crocodilian. Trivia *The Carcharodontosaurs make distorted elephant trumpet roar sounds, something that the Daspletosaurus of the show also use. These sounds were positively received. *The Saltasaur killed later in the episode is actually the same one from the beginning that Dragonfly and his mate scavenge from. *Some other animal sounds used for both the Carcharodontosaurs and the Daspletosaurus include various snarls and growls from big cats (tigers, lions, and leopards), and grunts from a walrus. *In the 2012 Korean film Tarbosaurus: The Mightiest Ever, Patch, his wife, and his mother use the same sounds as the Carcharodontosaurs from "Alpha's Egg". *The T. rex (named Tyra) that appears in the 2012 computer-animated Korean film Dino Time uses the same sound effects as the Carcharodontosaurs from "Alpha's Egg", as well as the Aucasaurus. **Since these are both sounds from Dinosaur Planet, it's likely that they were directly taken from the series for this film. Gallery Male Carcharodontosaur roaring at Dragonfly.png Female Carcharodontosaur roaring.png Carcharodontosaur scaring away Aucasaurs.png Male Carcharodontosaur.png Carcharodontosaur male length.png Carcharodontosaurs eating.png Carcharodontosaurs close to Alpha.png|The Carcharodontosaurs move in on whoever's last, and Alpha is one of them Audio Category:Dinosaur Planet creatures Category:Dinosaurs Category:Creatures from South America Category:Theropods Category:Carnivores Category:Large carnivores Category:Antagonists